Date: Jun 28, 2013 1:57 PM
Author: GS Chandy
Subject: Re: PUSHING children to learn math Vs. ENCOURAGING children to<br> learn math
Joe Niederberger posted Jun 28, 2013 4:54 AM: >> There's a related phenomenon with "Advance Placement"> and entering college freshmen. Parents are tempted to> see a jump start as a possible way to save money.> Many of the students might be best off just taking> Calculus 1 again at the college level.> Well, yes. But I see some underlying issues - and those nearly always come back to our inadequate understanding of the systems in which we live and work (and play). So - how to promote 'systems understanding' amongst people at large? So that rightaway we may start developing effective systems and sub-systems (as needed, in various aspects of our societal lives).

Very specifically, in respect to education:

- -- Effective educational systems (from primary to advanced; till recently, the system of higher education in the US was the envy of the world - I don't know how much that holds today).

But, at the heart of practically all our issues is the ineluctable fact that we simply do not know enough about 'systems' in order to function *effectively* within the complex systems in which we live and work (and play). This is the sad state of affairs today, even within the USA, despite its recently top-rate systems of higher education.

(And each day, our systems and their interactions are growing ever more complex - and there's very little that our educational or other systems have done to enable us 'get a grip' on our systems)